Keliber Receives Mining Safety Permit for the Syväjärvi Mine

The Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency (Tukes) has granted a mining safety permit for Keliber’s second largest deposit, Syväjärvi. The permit, which was granted on 13 October 2021, includes immediate execution despite eventual appeals. The permit is not yet legally valid.

Keliber is starting preparatory work at Syväjärvi, including activities such as the removal of overburden, building sedimentation basins and a wetland for overland flow, as well as the construction of roads. Now that Keliber has been granted the mining safety permit, the mining of wall rock can begin. This will be utilised both as crushed rock and aggregate in building infrastructure, such as the basin structures and foundations and surfaces for roads.

“Syväjärvi's wall rock works very well as material for building infrastructure. Utilising wall rock as utility material for the future mine is both cost-effective and environmentally friendly as the stone supply is nearby. Material efficiency, which is part of the circular economy, has been a part of our operations from the very beginning,” says Hannu Hautala, CEO of Keliber.

The construction phase at Syväjärvi will last for about two years, during which time about one million tonnes of wall rock will be mined. The rock material will be utilised also in the construction of the Päiväneva concentrator area. Lithium ore production is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2024 and continue for about four years. After that, mining will continue at the Rapasaari mine in the Päiväneva area, and the Syväjärvi mine will be rehabilitated in accordance with a separate plan and the provisions of the environmental permit.

Further information
Hannu Hautala, CEO, Keliber, +358 (0)40 712 2432

Keliber in Brief

Keliber is a Finnish mining and battery chemical company that aims to start the sustainable production of battery-grade lithium hydroxide, utilising its own ore, in 2024.

www.keliber.fi/en